Carrying bin for agricultural machine



March 21, 1967 J. BALTHES, JR

CARRYING BIN FOR AGRICULTURAL MACHINE Original Filed April 29, 1963 my ski-WK United States Patent 3,310,090 CARRYING BIN FOR AGRICULTURAL MACHINE John Balthes, Jr., Port Burwell, Ontario, Canada, assignor to Balthes Farms Equipment Manufacturing Limited, Port Burwell, Ontario, Canada Original application Apr. 29, 1963, Ser. No. 276,403, now Patent No. 3,217,823, dated Nov. 16, 1965. Divided and this application Oct. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 513,889

4 Claims. (Cl. ISO-51) This application is a division of application Ser. No. 276,403, filed Apr. 29, 1963, and now United States Patent No. 3,217,823.

This invention relates to tobacco harvesters and, more particularly, to a carrying bin for use with a tobacco harvester into which tobacco bin the tobacco leaves are placed as they are picked.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a tobacco bin which is adapted to be carried by mechanical harvesters, and into which a worker piles tobacco leaves as they are picked; and which may be removed from the machine as it is filled and be replaced by another similar bin.

A feature of this present invention resides in an improved tobacco bin structure. In this present invention, the structure lprovided comprises a general rectangular frame structure which is provided at its rear with a transverse member which is freely slidable and may be pushed downward out of the way of the picker for packing the bins and when the bins are filled slides vertically to provide a handle at the rear end.

These features and objects, together with other features and objects, will become more apparent from the following description and drawings in which:

The figure is a general perspective view of a rear tobacco bin carrier adapted to be towed by a tobacco harvester, and a tobacco bin in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in exploded relationship therewith.

The tobacco bin is characterized by the structure illustrated in the figure. The drawing shows the tobacco bin 300 in exploded relationship with a tobacco bin carrier, indicated generally at 201, and which tobacco bin carrier forms no part of this invention. As illustrated in the drawing, the bin comprises a pair of spaced tubular frames 301 and 302 which are held in spaced apart relationship by transverse rods such as 303 on the bottom thereof and 304 on what may be termed the forward end.

At the rear, a transverse rod 305 is slidably connected between frames 301 and 302 so that it may be slid up or down for the convenience of the picker. For example, when the tobacco bin is in its normal position such that a picker is working into it, the rod 305 will normally be 3,310,090 Patented Mar. 21, 1967 ICC 302. Canvas container 310 comprises a bottom wall 311, side walls 312 and 313, a front and top wall 314, which is formed integrally with the bottom wall 311, and a rear wall 315. There is no connection between the side walls and the front and top wall 314, nor between the rear wall 315 and the side walls 312 and 313, except through bottom wall 311. This arrangement permits the circulation of air through the packed container.

As the picking progresses, the picker picks off the mature leaves from the plants and places them in the tobacco bin 300. When the bin is filled, the cover flap 314 and the rear flap 315 are brought over the exposed leaves and secured. By means of handle 305 and the transverse bar 304 the entire bin may be transported to the curing sheds. It will, of course, be understood that during the picking process the sliding handle 305 will be depressed so that the picker may have easy access to the interior of the bin and there will be no interference with his movement by this bar. It will be seen that by this arrangement that damage to the tobacco is minimized, and the quality thereof is improved by the reduced handling.

While the above invention is being, described with specific reference to a particular embodiment, it will be understood that other variations and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A carrying bin comprising in combination a pair of spaced apart sides, each of said sides comprising end, top and bottom rails, a flexible container secured in said frame at least to said top rails, and a transverse member slidably connected between a pair of end rails.

2. A carrying bin as claimed in claim 1 wherein said container comprises bottom and side walls secured together, a flap secured along a first margin of said bottom wall to provide at least a first end wall, and a flap secured along a second margin of said bottom wall to provide at least a second end wall.

3. A carrying bin in claim 1, wherein said container comprises bottom and side walls secured together, a first flap secured along a first margin of said bottom wall and a second flap secured along a second margin of said bottom wall to provide between them end walls and a cover to said container.

4. A carrying bin as claimed in claim 1 wherein said sides are spaced apart by at least one transverse member secured between said bottom rails and at least one transverse member secured between at least a second pair of end rails.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 579,030 3/1897 Yerby ISO-51 1,187,749 6/1916 Lane l5051 1,815,541 7/1931 Bohannon 43-61 2,785,725 3/1957 Gold -51 2,790,556 4/1957 Burt 220-19 X FOREIGN PATENTS 92,926 9/ 1958 Norway.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner. 

1. A CARRYING BIN COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A PAIR OF SPACED APART SIDES, EACH OF SAID SIDES COMPRISING END, TOP AND BOTTOM RAILS, A FLEXIBLE CONTAINER SECURED IN SAID FRAME AT LEAST TO SAID TOP RAILS, AND A TRANSVERSE MEMBER SLIDABLY CONNECTED BETWEEN A PAIR OF END RAILS. 